HH says will reverse retirement age but retain skilled labour

Speaking to Copperbelt students on his continued tour of the country, Hichilema said: ‘Come January or there about next year, we shall immediately reverse this decision so that our young, vibrant, energetic people can have spaces for jobs.’

He continued : ‘0f course that’s not to mean we shall not have people above 55 years working. We shall retain specialised skills on contract basis above 55 years. This means someone would have been retired, paid their dues, and only asked to serve for a period we shall not have skilled people in those areas.’

Below are his full cmments:

I had a wonderful reception and interaction with my friends Momas, Monks, Mojos, Lumpens and all at the Copperbelt University yesterday.

HH at CBU Wednesday night

I fully appreciate their situation and it is the same with other higher learning institutions. There are no bed spaces and our friends are heavily congested in the rooms. Majority live in boarding houses, some very far from learning institutions. We really need to solve the problems existing in these institutions including learning/teaching materials.

One thing that also came out clearly from my friends at CBU, just like their colleagues in other learning institutions, is their genuine fear of not getting jobs after graduation. In fact, majority are already having problems to even find places for their industrial attachment.

And what is worse, our friends in the PF have just signed for the increase in the retirement age from 55 to 65 years. What this means is that the PF government would rather have a government of old and tired people working while the majority of our youths remain in the streets.

I promise our youths to work hard and mobilise so that we win this election.

Come January or there about next year, we shall immediately reverse this decision so that our young, vibrant, energetic people can have spaces for jobs.

Our policies will be such that by 55 or even below, we should have sufficiently empowered someone to even be an entrepreneur and hence an employer of these same youths.

This is the difference between ourselves and our colleagues in the PF and no matter who they bring, that person will not have any major policy shifts. In fact they don’t even have any policies at all.